Spotlights and Blind Spots. The Myth of Plath and the Hypervisibility of Zhai Yongming in the Invention of “Women’s Poetry” in Contemporary China

This chapter explores the (in)visibility of contemporary Chinese women poets and the “unequal exchange” of literary capital between the US and China. Drawing on the sociology of literature and translation, we examine the reception of American confessional poetry in contemporary China, particularly “the myth of Plath”, which played a key role and shaped the “myth” of Zhai Yongming, influencing the (in)visibility of other Chinese confessional poets in the process of canon formation.